The Next Chapter
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Dark times have fallen upon the X-Men, but it's not the end. As Jubilee's loved ones teach her, it's just the beginning of the next chapter of the rest of their lives. Het and a little Slash on the side. Alternate Universe.


Title: "The Next Chapter"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Dark times have fallen upon the X-Men, but it's not the end. As Jubilee's loved ones teach her, it's just the beginning of the next chapter of the rest of their lives.  
Warnings: Slash, Established Pairings, Het, Alternate Universe  
Word Count: 1,287  
Date Written: 1 May, 2012  
Disclaimer: Robert "Bobby" "Iceman" Drake, Dr. Henry "Hank" "Beast" McCoy, Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee, all other characters mentioned within, and the X-Men are ﾩ & TM Marvel comics and Disney, neither of which are the author, and are used without permission. Amazon is ﾩ & TM Amazon, also not the author, and is used without permission. Everything else is ﾩ & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

The air was thick with despondency as the small group filed quietly onto their last hope. The bus was as broken down and ragtag as any of them, and the symbolism was not lost on the older suffragettes who had seen the war begin and yet, until the last few years, maintained hope that their race would not be wiped out due to the blind prejudice and fearful hatred of those who had come before them.

That had not happened, however, and it would not happen. They could see the bitter truth in each other's fallen faces, many of which were ashen with fright and grief or marked with signs of battles that they would never forget for, even if they hadn't left their permanent marks upon their bodies, they had on their hearts and souls. Shoulders were patted, and a few of the warriors hugged.

This was their last chance, and though none of them admitted it aloud, they all knew it in secrecy, just as the adults had agreed to fall before the children. For that reason, they stayed in the line with them, two adults to every four or five children. They marched onto the bus together, taking seats amongst the kids so that they could watch them and rush to their defense should the attack they were all waiting for come. The line only paused when a Chinese American woman, who was far older than the years on her files suggested, came to a stop before mounting the bus.

She turned to the woman in white, who stood like a silent sentry, watching over the children as they mounted, and quickly wrapped her arms around her. "He'd be proud," she whispered to the woman who had once taught her. They'd been both enemies and allies over the years but never really friends. Jubilee's red eyes looked up into Emma's blue eyes that were no longer as hard and frosty as her infamous glares had been the entire time Jubilee had been growing up.

She did not name any names, but they both knew who she meant. Emma had loved her way into the X-Men, taking the bedside of their so-called fearless leader so that the team had little choice but to allow her to stay after the dismemberment of Generation X, but both women knew that Emma's heart had never really belonged to Cyclops. She had grieved him when he'd fallen in battle, but by that time, she had already earned her own rightful place amongst the team and her heart had still been heavy with grief from the loss of the man whom she had truly loved years before.

Emma nodded curtly to Jubilee, and Jubes mounted the bus. She was one of the last to do so, and she walked all the way to the back before sliding into a seat. Along the way, she passed the few X-Men who were left and shared knowing glances with each one of them. This was the end of their family, their truthful last stand, and there were so few of them left. Remy and Rogue sat together. Bobby and Hank were there, also sharing a seat, but despite the living that her eyes saw, the Vampiress could also see the dead.

So many had fallen because of humanity's hatred of things they could not understand. Charles, Scott, and Jean . . . Everett, Monet, Sean, and Moira . . . Wolfsbane, Siryn, Angel, Bishop, and more. So many were gone. She'd seen so many of her friends be slain in battle. She fought down tears as she walked the trail to the end of the bus that suddenly seemed so much longer than it really was.

She stopped again, however, when something cold and slimy hit her in the back of her head. She whirled around, her red eyes flashing and yellow trench coat twirling around her lithe, pale body, and then stopped and grinned at the sight with which she was met. Bobby smiled guiltily back at her. Hank was also grinning, but he didn't share the same guilty expression as his husband.

"Lighten up, Jubes!" Bobby called. "This isn't the Expressway to Hell, little Miss Vamp! This is the expressway to new lives and second chances! We're going to find a place, people, that the humans haven't destroyed with their hatred, and we're going to rebuild! We're going to get our lives back! Just you wait and see!"

Jubilee laughed, rolled her eyes, and shook her head as Bobby broke into song and Hank followed along. Robert Drake was the only one she knew of who could have survived throughout everything they'd endured and, in his case, so much more as he'd also lost his parents when his father had dared to stand up against the other humans in a debate, and still be happy and optimistic. Well, he wasn't quite as happy as he let on, she knew, watching him, but he was still optimistic, and only those of them who knew him best, like herself, would recognize the difference.

"Come on, chica; you're holding up the line."

Jubilee blinked as she looked up at Angelo and realized how lucky they really were. Yes, they'd lost a lot of their friends and family. Yes, their world had been turned upside down and their home destroyed. And yes, they had nowhere to go that the humans, despite Bobby's optimism, would not eventually find and kill them. But they still had each other.

Looking into Angelo's smiling, gray eyes, Jubes remembered a time when she had thought him dead. It had taken them years to find out that the one they'd thought had been crucified with her had not been the real Skin, but here was the real Skin, still laughing and smiling and loving her. She beamed at him, nodded, turned around, and walked to the end of the bus.

He slid in beside her and took her hand in his. She looked up at him, her tears still not too far away. "This isn't the end, is it, Angie?"

"No." He shook his head. "You better believe it isn't, chica. It's just the beginning of the next chapter of our lives."

She grinned. "I didn't know ya were so sentimental."

He shrugged. "Living our lives has taught me to appreciate every moment, chica, and there's nothing I appreciate more than having you here next to me."

Her smile grew. "Ditto."

"Ditto, huh?"

She chuckled. "Yeah."

He raised her hand and kissed it, and their wedding bands winked in the late afternoon sunlight. She looked up as her adopted father came to the last seat, joining his wife there. They grinned at each other, and then Jubilee turned toward the window. Still cuddling into Angelo, she raised her free hand, and fireworks shot into the sky outside. She kept them low, so as to not draw unwanted attention, but the display of exploding rockets and hearts with which she lit the sky immediately made the students ooh and aw.

"You're right," she whispered to Angelo. "As long as we have each other, this isn't the end. It's just another beginning." The sky lit up with the words "The Beginning". Almost as an afterthought, "Mutatis Mutandis" followed them, and then an X in a circle spun around in the smog that her fireworks were pushing away as the bus coughingly cranked up.

Jubilee relaxed into Angelo's comforting arms as they took off, and she glanced back over to Logan. He was holding Ororo much as Angie was holding her, and they looked at her with matching smiles. Logan nodded. "It ain't over, Jubie. I promise ya that, little darlin'. We'll take 'em. Yer'll see," and she did.

**The End**


End file.
